Meet master artisan Padma Shri Shah Quadri

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: From being an owner of a one-room house in Bidar old city to now being among the eight personalities from the state to receive the Padma Shri award this year, it has been a long journey for bidri artisan Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri.

Finally, after years of waiting, the master craftsman was conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award for his exquisite artworks by President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday. Born on June 5, 1955, Shah Rashid Ahmed Quadri belongs to a family of Bidri artisans.

This exposed him to the craft from a young age. He was trained by his father. He has not looked back since. He has been engaged in Bidri Ware Handicrafts. He has invented many Bidri Ware articles and trained hundreds of artists. Shah Quadri recalls that he was once advised by his father to quit the profession as there was no money in it.

However, he did not quit because he liked hitting metals with chisels and a hammer. The master artisan has already won numerous awards for his work over the years, including The State Award in 1984, The National Award in 1988, The District Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 1996, and The Great Indian Achievers Award in 2004 among others.

Quadri has held exhibitions of his works in several countries and given live demonstrations, as well, at many places including the Science Festival of India held at The Museum of Science in Boston, USA, in 1987 and a live demonstration in Holland in 1992. Bidri Art was selected to represent Karnataka at the Rajpath in New Delhi on Republic Day in 2011.

Quadri, along with his team, took a seat on the tableau with his work and gave a live demonstration. The Karnataka tableau was awarded the second prize that year. He has also taken part in exhibitions in Bahrain and Oman.